1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to a physical orientation scheme for printer heads in a digital printer utilizing high-speed simplex (one side of a sheet) and/or duplex (both sides of a sheet) variable data printing techniques that increases the efficiency of printing simplexed or duplexed documents, thereby dramatically reducing associated costs for the printing process. More specifically, the subject invention comprises a printing and handling system for formatting printed documents in a post-printing easily handled simplex/duplexed lazy-portrait (narrow-edge of a first page to a narrow-edge of a second page) orientation to minimize the size of required and expensive color-capable printing heads.
2. Description of Related Art
The exceedingly novel and non-obvious subject invention comprises a system that maximizes the use of less expensive black printing heads and minimizes the use of more expensive color-capable printing heads to print paired-documents oriented in a lazy-portrait (narrow-edge of a first page to a narrow-edge of a second page) fashion, wherein a single more expensive color-capable printing head is utilized to print “across” a page from one long-edge to the second long-edge, such as simultaneously printing both paired-document headings with only one color printing head. No comparable, or even remotely similar, printing system exists in the known references. The subject system may be utilized to print in a head-to-head, bottom-to-bottom, or head-to-bottom fashion with one or more color heads and one or more black heads or only black printing heads if no color is needed for a particular printing job.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,931 teaches a printing layout device and method for implementation via a computer means. Two separate document pages may be printed in a parallel orientation with the margins set to any desired distance. The adjustable margin is to allow for binding of the pages. The program shrinks the existing print to fit any desired set of margins. The subject invention does not decrease data to fit on bindable pages within a printed sheet nor are variable-bindable margins addressed or of interest in the subject head-to-head printing scheme.
Found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,411 is a printing control method and apparatus, wherein a printed image forming a large poster consists of a displayed array of smaller output images. The manner of the display, basically enlarging the array smaller output images to a suitable size for the poster, can be manipulated within predefined parameters. The subject system does not enlarge a plurality or images to fit on a single larger sheet or poster.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,971 relates a printing method, wherein an image is self-resizing to fit a preferred media size. The final page is printed on a standard printer apparatus. No resizing of data to fit on one printed page is involved with the subject invention.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,126 is a method of controlling printing in a printing apparatus, wherein the invention truncates or extends, whatever is appropriate, printing variables to produce a neatly presented printed page. This system scales images to the size of the printable page area. The subject system does not truncate or extend print jobs prior to transferring to a printer.
Described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,038 is a system for controlling image processing via linked spooling of incoming print jobs. Incoming print jobs are concatenated together and then transferred to a printer. No concatenation exists within the subject system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,721 presents a document processing and printing system. The invention is a distributed printing system with a plurality of document processing subsystems and, more particularly, a system which examines the attributes of a target document for the purpose of delivering one or more portions of the document to one or more of the document processing subsystems on the basis of the examination of the attributes. The current subject invention does not parse print jobs to determine job attributes since they are known prior to job creation. The '721 claims are all directed to “reproduction” of documents, which is not found within the subject invention that deals only with “production” of documents.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,977 B1 is a printing control system utilizing a unified user interface for bookbinding. The system basically collates sheets in correct sequence so they my be bound into a book format. No bookbinding or related sheet ordering exist with the subject system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,822 B1 presents a method and apparatus for modifying screen resolution based on available memory in the controlling computer system. This system merely modifies screen resolution for monitor resolution and is not related directed to the subject invention.
A print data control system is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,635 B1.
A way to increase printer speed to print from a host computer to a printer through a data interface is described, which is not related to the subject invention.
In addition to the above mentioned patents, the current state of high-speed duplex variable data printing, utilizing both black and color-capable print heads, known to Applicant, is illustrated in FIG. 1 (denoted as “Prior Art”). Existing high-speed duplex variable data printing is carried out most frequently with continuous form printers using what is termed a “two-up” format. Two portrait printed sheets are printed side-by-side. This process, the standard in the industry, produces a continuous output of pages where the first four sheets (eight pages, front and back) appear as shown in FIG. 1. The advantage of printing in the prior-art format is that it is compatible with more printers and more post-printing equipment for handling the printed sheets. A critical existing element of the prior-art printing method is that to print either black or color markings on both pages, with the headings in color and the body in black, both the black and color-capable printing heads must span the entire width (long-side to long-side of a page) of both the duplexed sheets, WB and WC, respectively. Currently, color-capable printing heads are much more costly than equivalently sized black printing heads. Examples of printers that function in this manner are the IBM InfoPrint 4000 and Oce VarioStream 7000.